Not sure if you kept up with my twitter entries but my journey back to Berlin will go down as the longest NYC to Europe expidition EVER. I left for the airport at 5.30pm on Friday 17th. I had gotten an email from BA already to tell me my flight had been cancelled. I tried calling but to no avail, just kept getting the fob off message that thier call centre was experiencing higher than average activity and would I call back later. The cab journey was LONG. Rush hour on a Friday night, crawling out of the city, trying every 10 minutes to contact BA. I arrived at the terminal and was told to join the queue that didn’t move. “Please no” I remonstrated but the woman gave me the “I don’t give a shit about you” look “Just join the end of the queue to nowhere and get out of my face”. The queue to nowhere was full of people of differing stages of frustration. Some had been there since 2pm and were in an awful state. Some, like me, had just joined the queue and were in a positive hopeful place. I thought I would be clever and try the BA phoneline while I waited, incase I got lucky. Well, I did. I managed to get to the hold music and held the phone to my ear for the next hour and a half until I reached the front of the queue at which point I hung up. I was assisted by this really cool woman called Angela. She said all the next flights were full. I didn’t flinch. I find passivity to be the best measure in these situations. If you throw a wobbly, you ain’t gonna get nuttin. Angela made a call. She Uh-huhed and mm-mmed and sighed and asked the woman on the other end to get me on a flight. “Is he cute?” “Yeahhh…” “Does he look crazy…” “Nu-uhh… he looks very laid back. You ain’t gonna get no trouble from this one…” The flight in question was 114. It was due to leave around 9pm but was delayed and scheduled to depart at around 3.20 am. She told me to stand over there and that she would call me when she heard. I was called back and she said “Well, baby, you got the last seat. Here’s your ticket. Go check in over there…” I wished her happy christmas eve. She’s told me she would be working on Christmas day and that eve was gonna be her day off.

Flight 114 left JFK around 3.40am. I sat in my seat and some very slobby couple got in the seat behind me and immediately took their shoes off. Their feet smelled like death. I ripped open the wee plastic case which contains flying accouterments and put the blind fold over my nose. The cold chemical stench neutralised most of their awful guff. I fell asleep soon afterwards only to be woken by the guy behind me snoring like a pig.These people were like the Harry Enfield characters. I think the captains announcement woke him up and in that window I passed out once again.

When I awoke, we had landed. But it wasn’t heathrow. It was Shannon in south western Ireland. The captain told us we had been diverted becasue Heathrow was closed due to severe weather and we’d be staying on the plane for the next few of hours as Shannon was also being used by multiple diverted jumbo jets and was packed. I fell asleep once again. When I awoke, everyone seemed to be collecting their rubbish. The captain soon came on and said hotels had been made available and after we collected our luggage a bus would take everyone for a night in Shannon. At that point I got on my iphone, flipped data roaming ON (the next couple of hours of research will have cost me $$$$) and checked my options. I figured there would be a high chance of Heathrow being screwed for days. Forecasts looked grim. So what to do. I decided to try and get to Berlin from Dublin the following morning. The last train to Dublin left from Limerick at 8.55pm and arrived at 23.23. I had to catch a bus from Shannon to Limerick first though…oh and collect my bags which as it happened took ages to come out on the carousel.

I made the bus with a minute to spare but realised I didn’t have any money.By luck I found a €5 note in my computer bag and borrowed €2 from a girl who was waiting. The bus took an hour. It was a drunken night in Limerick. Lots of christmas parties going off. I met a student from Princeton who was a Hampstead local and we John Candyed and Steve Martined for the next 3 hours. He was headed to Mumbai for a family holiday. Nice kid. 18, very bright and good company. The ATM was bust at Limerick station so I wandered out into the drunken night and found a Spar supermarket with a money machine. I bought food for me and thought I should get my new friend a grilled cheese sandwich as well. He was thankful as his trip had not been fruitful.

WHen the train arrived I couldn’t find my ticket so with 2 minutes to spare I ran back to the station and bought another one. Naturally the missing ticket appeared as soon as I had bought the other but by this point I didn’t care. I just wanted to be on the train. We hung out for the next 3 hours changing trains at Limerick Junction. I had my travel agent get Zachery, my princeton Classics student a great deal at The Morrison hotel in Dublin and we bode each other goodnight and good luck at reception. I had the best bath ever and surfed and wrote emails till it was 6.30am at which point I wandered downstairs and paid my bill and got a taxi to the airport. Ryan Air took off from Dublin at 9.50am. I woke up after touchdown in Berlin and was home within 40 minutes.

It is so nice to be here. I found out, had I stayed in Shannon, I would surely still be there as I write. Nothing against Shannon but there’s no place like home.

Hey New York. I’m playing at The Bowery on Thursday. Still some tickets left. I got Ryan Adams drummer, Sia’s bassist, Rufus Wainwrights piano player and a quartet. Rehearsals are going great. See ya Thursday x

So everyone this is seriously the final cancellation. Everyone is asking what the personal issue is. Please don’t worry, It’s not any life or death situation, it’s just that I need some time with Clay, my son. He and Nora are in New York waiting for me. The past week has been the hardest I have had as a parent so I had to do something about it. Montreal, Quebec, Carrboro and Austin I will make it up to you. Atlanta and Boston will go ahead and also the full band show in New York.